Bristol Pride

> This year, for the first time ever, Pride came to Bristol. For an entire week events took place all over the city, culminating with Pride Dayon Saturday 21st of August. It began with a parade from the Hippodrome to CastlePark, where live music, refreshment stalls and inflatable genitalia awaited, and ended with a downpour typical of the British summertime.

> Following the event, Westworld editor Sean Guest discussed its success with organiser and committee member Leighton De Burca.

How long have the organisers been trying to bring Pride to Bristol?

Pride Bristol has been a few years in the making and much ground work was completed in previous years by various community
groups. Preparation for this year’s Pride week started last June and was shared between lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
(LGBT) Forum members, Community leaders, Committee members and also required the fantastic support of Bristol City
Councils Equalities Team, Jo Macdonald and Simon Nelson.

Was the event as successful as you hoped it would be?

The event was successful in many ways. The most important achievement for any Pride event is to bring the LGBT community
together and raise awareness of LGBT issues, which I feel this Pride event managed to do.

Was the bad weather a blight on proceedings?

The weather was great for most of the day and Bristolians are excellent at maintaining the party spirit despite the rain. I feel it
added a festival feel to the event and as we are British, we should be used to the rain!

Do the organisers intend to repeat the event and, if so, will it happen on an even larger scale next year?

As with all Pride events they are for the community and have to be lead by that community. Next year’s event should be similar
to this year’s, but with hopes of an even greater attendance.

What was your personal highlight?

My personal highlight was the amazing attendance at the community tent, which received such amazing feedback. The tent
was set up by Simon Nelson who did an amazing job, as the community is what pride is all about.